The Sacred Fire

This project was undertaken through the 2013 Memefest Conference held in November. During the conference participants from all over the globe came together to see how we could use the art of visual communication to solve the problem of Food Sovereignty, and to ask how a nation like Australia could expect to have any such thing without first acknowledging that of its first people? During the conference we were given the honour of being able to collaborate with the Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy (BASE) and their signature group the Brisbane Blacks, learning a lot about the struggle of indigenous Australians and the work that they do within the community.

The aspect of the Sacred Fire was one that caught the attention of myself and my team, as it seems to be quite misunderstood by the council and some members of the community. There has been a lot of interference by the local council, which has both misunderstood the ceremony and caused much emotional anguish through further displacement. Through our action we hoped to gain a hold of public perception and trust through poster media which shines an inclusive and positive call to action with the movement. We also aimed to capture the significance of the sovereignty movement and it's key figures as it gains momentum in 2013. Three posters were designed by Oscar Waugh and myself in response to the research and discussions our group had with the community representatives, and the results were striking and effective with the community now using them as part of their sovereignty movement.